The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-12-10
NUMEROUS SUGGESTIONS.
BY Some Of the ssNew Dominion's''
Readers.

Readers.
Meeting a well known citizen witt
has given the subject of water work
some attention. the New DoMINIol
scribe proceeded to pump him, with
the following result:
"Do you think the people of Nor
gantown are ready for water works.
asked the scribe.
@Ready?" he said, 80 far as thu
people are concerned they have beer
ready for tive er three years. Die
not the people, by vote two year,
ago, almost unanimously grant tn,
town council authority to subscrib,
to the stock of company for erect
ing water worksf 1t is not the PEG
pie that are standing in the way O
water works. The people are ready
and willing and anxious for water
works. The people of Morgantowr
are intelligent. There is some ole
fogyism here, and we are a littl,
slow, but there is intelligence enough
to appreciate water works, and il
will be so declared whenever the PEG
pie have a chance at it.
"But, my dear sir" he continued
'the people can't act in such mat
ter. The people never carry out
public enterprises. That is not the
way such things are done"
"How, them asked the scribe, sis
the thing to get on it's feet and walk
off,"
What is wanted in any public
enterprise is leader-a man or mer
who have a proper conception of the
advantages of the project, its cost
and who have matured plan and
are ready to formulate proposition
which the people can understand
and act upon. The people follow
and endorse; they don't lead. And
until there is man or men, ewho
have the enterprise and public spirit
to study this project of water works
and are willing to lead in it, we will
continue to draw our water supply
from cess-pools for one hundred
years more"
"Well," said the scribe, ''have you
any suggestion for starting the ballT'
"My view is" said he, that in a
matter of this kind, the Mayor ought
to lead. 1t is distinctive public
matter, in which the whole people.
as community, are concerned. 1t
is a matter of health. 1t is u matter
of security of property. 1t is a mat
ter of general public convenience
and comfort. 1t is matter involv-
ing the prosperity and progress of
the town more intimately than any
other that can be named"
"Now, in such matters the Mayor
is pre-eminently the man to study,
master, present and lead. He is
placed at the head of the municipal
government for that purpose. He is
the chosen leader by the direct voice
of the people. 1t is no presumption
on his part. 1t is duty. If any
other citizen should assume to lead
in such a matter, there are some peo-
pie who could not but believe there
was job in it. Moreover, it can
hardly be expected that anyone who
did not expect to profit by it as a
matter of business would give his
time and labor to carrying forward
the enterprise, although there ought
to be plenty Of such men in the com
But in the case of the
Mayor, who, by reason of his official
position, is directly charged with
such matters, it would only be dis
charging duty which he owes to
the public
But how will the Mayor go about
it?" asked the scribe.
Easy enough. What the people
want is a business proposition.
What the Mayor wants is sufficient
information to present business
proposition. Let him get this in
formation. He can get it at Clarks-
burg, where they are now erecting
water works. Or he can get the or
dinance under which they erected
water works in Wheeling, Pittsbnrg,
Parkersburg, or other cities. He
can ascertain from these what details
are necessary to be settled; what the
probable cost of the plant will be;
and there are engineers in Morgan
town who can give him an approx
mate cost, and the practicability of
piping either of the two wells, at the
foot or head of town, or from the
river. Then let him draft an ordi-
nance, submit it to the town council,
have it thoroughly considered and
and then submit it to a
vote of the people. And we will
wager that whenever a discreet and
proper ordinance of this kind is pre-
sented, the people of Morgantown
will adopt it, and adopt it heartily"
"Well," said the scribe, "that
seems to be the most practicable
and sensible mode of getting at the
thing, and ! am very much of your
opinion, that the people are ready
for it,
Ready for it! Why they are
waiting and anxious for it. No pru-
dent man has gone to bed in this
town any night for the last three
months who has not had one ear
open for the cry of fire. And sup
pose fire had broken out on Main
street, or in any of the upper parts
of town, what would have happened
Where is there a well that would
not have been exhaused in fifteen
minutes2 On any windy night, if
this town should take fire, it would
be swept out of existence as COM
pletely as Spencer was few weeks
ago. And it is only question OF
time till this thing happens, unless
we have the means to fight the fire
when it comes. Still, that is not
the only reason for water works, by
any means, but its enough for the
present. Good morning"
A Valuable Medical Treatise.
The edition for 1888 of the ster-
ling Medical Annual, known as Hos.